Neutral: The Grey Areas
by Nimbiose
Summary: In a twist of fate, the roles have been switched: Hei is the Contractor, and Pai the human. At least, until Heaven’s Gate. The future is changed, as abandoning the syndicate and now in Tokyo, Pai searches for clues…
1. The Girl with the Sad Smile

**Summary: **In a twist of fate, the roles have been switched: Hei is the Contractor, and Pai the human. At least, until Heaven's Gate. The future is changed, as abandoning the syndicate and now in Tokyo, Pai searches for clues…

**Warnings:** Spoilers for most, if not all, of season one.

**Disclaimer:** Darker than BLACK is not mine, although it would be cool if it was :]

**A/N:** Spur-of-the-moment kind of thing. I had recently entertained the thought of a female!Hei, and instead decided it'd be much more interesting to write about Pai's character. Hopefully, this'll be enjoyable.

Also, not beta'd, so please feel free to point out any mistakes!

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**Neutral: The Grey Areas**

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The man jumped from building to building, whilst the car chase from police cars below continued. Thankfully, they had lost track of him, and he could now catch a short breather. Falling against the sturdy concrete of the building, he panted. The lights of a nearby advertisement revealed his features him to be of fair skin and hair, his eyes a pale blue color.

As the sound of the sirens below him travelled further and further away, his breathing evened. Having thus clamed himself, the man then looked at his hands, before proceeding to forcefully pull at his fingers. Despite the obvious amount of pain he was in, the man did not stop until his fingers were effectively broken. Once this was done, and ignoring the pain he must surely be in, the man shakily stood up.

And stopped short.

Before him there was a figure, draped in a grey jacket, brown hair pulled into a ponytail, a mask covering her face. For the figure was most certainly female, if not for the softness of her stance then for the noticeable bump of the jacket in the chest area.

Suddenly, she spoke with the quietest of voices, and the man had to strain himself to hear her words:

"The syndicate is after you,"

The man blinked for a minute, uncomprehending, in an attempt to digest what was before him. And suddenly, the figure was no more. His own eyes stared disbelieving at the space where he knew, minutes before, a young girl had been standing in. There was now nothing on the rooftop save him, and perhaps a few birds. Frowning, he took a step forward-

_NEENAWNEENAW!_

The sudden sound of the ambulance froze him. Just what was he thinking? He had work to do; he couldn't go around chasing ghosts.

Resolutely, he took a step forward, when he was suddenly hit from behind, and his world became black.

Dazedly, he thought he heard that ethereal voice again,

"I warned you,"

* * *

**CH****APTER 1: The Girl with the Sad Smile**

* * *

The sun broke through the clouds, as the residents of Tokyo welcomed the new day, waking up to go to work or reading the morning paper. In it was the story of the car chase the day before, and of the dead body found on top a building in the same area.

All in all, it was a fairly calm, everyday morning. But not to all.

In one of the more residential areas of the city, there was a small park. Although in the past it had been constantly full of children, things had changed in the last ten years. The citizens of Tokyo may pretend to live in normalcy, but they knew better than that.

By norm, Contractors, Dolls and those affiliated to them were to be kept secret from the general populace.

After the events in South America, however, this had obviously been impossible, and soon everyone knew about the existence of these former humans. That didn't mean they accepted it. Most people pretended not to know about it, ignoring it completely, as Contractors were shady people, who dealt with high-class spying agencies and usually meant bad luck.

Few people were interested in dealing with them more than was necessary, as their loss of humanity chilled them to the bone, and their possible abilities scared them. As such, security was heightened worldwide, but parents were still cautious and seldom allowed their children to go out as much as they had in their youth.

To the group of people that met in the park, however, this was perfect. They would be ignored anyway, but dealing with people, normal humans, was something they strove to avoid.

It was a group of three. Well, three and a half, really, for the cat should be considered somewhat of a human. The other three may have seemed like normal humans at first glance, but the girl's blank stare and the blond man's cool touch would soon prove otherwise. Of the group, only one was normal.

"You're saying he was reaching out for something? And how, exactly, is that important? Never mind, don't answer that, I don't want to talk to you Contractors more than I should anyway," a short man, leaning towards fat, muttered from the morning paper he had his nose in. As with every other, the title page was about the car chase.

"That is up to you Huang, but this next piece of information you won't ignore," the blond grinned.

"Oh, and what is that?" the cat asked, head glancing up.

"I think I saw your syndicate's little princess last night," he explained as he took off his glasses, cleaning them.

The effect his sentence had on the three others was the desired one. The short man, Huang, gasped and spluttered, dropping his paper. The cat jumped right up, staring at him dubiously. The sole female of the group, the girl with the blank stare, widened her eyes a fraction.

"Are you sure? You know you can't just go around saying things like that! You could get into trouble…honestly November, that is one thing you should not joke about, Contractor or not…" the cat sighed, rearranging himself and plopping down.

"But I'm not joking, Mao, for once…it was for the briefest of seconds, but I'm pretty sure it was her, although all I saw was the grey jacket, I did recognize the mask, from the files you've shown me," the blond, now identified as November, shrugged, scratching between the cat's ears.

"Damn it November, then why didn't you apprehend her? If the syndicate finds out, we're all dead! Damn it, damn it, damn it…" Huang muttered, pacing back and forth.

"Relax Huang, you're really too uptight about all this…besides, it's not like she tried to stop me or anything, I mean, I don't even know what her ability is but I doubt she used it, and she was gone before I could try anything," November commented, letting go of Mao and standing up, stretching.

"For your sake and mine, November, I hope you're right," Huang said through gritted teeth, barely containing his fury at the other's lack of caring.

"Right then, now that that's cleared up, I'm going to my apartment and taking a warm, relaxing bath, then I should probably head over to the university later, just to keep appearances, what do you think?" the blond turned to the fuming man, who grunted.

"Go throw yourself from a building for all I care, as long as you don't die," was Huang's gruff reply, before leaving the park, still fuming.

"There you go again, making Huang angry, I wonder, do you do it on purpose?" Mao asked, from his new place at the blank girl's lap.

"Hmm, maybe, anyway, Yin, I left you something at your station that I think you'll enjoy, so make sure to look for it, okay?" and with a wink, the eccentric foreigner left humming a tune.

The girl with the blank stare, Yin, smiled for the briefest of moments.

* * *

A few streets away, an apartment block landlady was welcoming a new tenant. Since this tenant was female, quite young and pretty, the landlady would have to make sure she was alright during her stay. She could already imagine the trouble this girl would bring, but she was sweet and obviously in need of help, so the lady had been kind and decided to take her in.

"Here we go miss, it's a bit small, but considering your…er…situation and the fact that you're just one person, this place should work out just fine!" the old lady said, opening the door of the smallest apartment in the block.

In all truth, the woman was of the opinion that a young girl should not be by herself in the first place, but while she may be kind of heart she did not wish to impose on the girl, confident she would open up to her. All her female tenants did, eventually.

As she busied herself, cleaning the place up a bit and getting rid of the excess dust, the two made small talk. The landlady did not notice, but it was really just the girl asking questions and her answering them with long explanations. Once they were done and the place looked decent, the girl turned to her.

"I don't know how to thank you enough! I really was in trouble, and here you are being so kind to me! Thank you!" the girl bowed profusely, her small ponytail bobbing down with her. The elder laughed.

"Nonsense! You don't need to thank me; it's what anyone would've done! Now then, mind telling me exactly how you got into this tight situation of yours? We'll discuss it over tea," and, smiling amiably, but leaving no room for an answer, the old lady headed to the kitchen.

A few minutes later, the two were sitting around the small table, drinking their tea. It was quiet for some time, before the young girl began to speak,

"I haven't introduced myself yet, have I? So I should probably start with that! My name is Mei Lao, or as you say in Japan, Lao, Mei, and as you can imagine, I am Chinese.

"I was orphaned at a young age, around the time the Gates first appeared, but I had my brother with me, and we managed: he would work a lot, I would help, but he would always push me to go to school. He said he wanted to give me the chances he couldn't, but he would also try his best and got help from teachers.

"So I began to work really hard, we both did, and once brother graduated he got a job offer in Japan. At first, he didn't want to leave China, or me, but I promised him I'd join him once I graduated and he complied. We would always keep contact with each other, and he'd send me the money needed for my tuition: things were going fine.

"But then, two months before I graduated, the money stopped. Fortunately, I had some saved up and used that to finish my schooling. But I was worried. So I took a scholarship offer to come study here in Japan, and try to find my brother.

"I've wasted all my money on the trip though, and while the university I'm attending is kind to me and know of my financial position, I'm too stubborn to accept their help. I'm as devoted as ever to my studies, but I'm really worried about my brother. I've wasted all I had in trying to find him and now…I haven't got anything left.

"And that's where you found me, sleeping in that street corner and wondering what to do," Mei looked up from her cup, as if returning from some old memory, a sad smile on her face.

"BububuBWAAAAAAA!" startled, the girl fixed her eyes on the old lady. She was bawling her eyes out.

"I-um-are you alright? Do you need anything? I-"

"I-it's just your s-story is so-so sad…" the old landlady sniffed into her handkerchief, hiccupping.

"Yes…but hopefully it'll be brighter from now on, no?" Mei smiled confidently.

"Yes it will! You just wait! I can't board you for free, but considering this is the smallest place I've got, just by helping me out around here and paying just a bit more, I can offer you this place and a meal everyday! What do you say?"

"Oh, that would be wonderful! I'll make sure to find a job somewhere to help me out a bit too, and this'll let me continue my studies, thank you so much!" Mei bowed again, and the old lady laughed.

Yes, she would make this work!

_Maybe that'll cheer up that sad smile of hers._

* * *

Hours later, Mei was trudging out of her university, having told them that she would be continuing her studies. They were relieved, as there had been growing concern about her (she had told them the same story) and they did not want to loose such a promising student.

As she neared the school gate, lost in her own thoughts, the Chinese girl collided with a fellow student.

"Sorry!"

"My bad!"

The two stared at each other briefly, before chuckling lightly at their simultaneous apologies.

"Heh, sorry about that missy," the other student, a blond male, obviously a foreigner, said while helping her up.

"It's okay, I wasn't looking at were I was going," Mei replied with ease. The two smiled at each other in understanding.

"I say, this university takes up quite a lot of international students," the man commented, as the two fell into step together.

"Seems so, noticed my accent did you?" she grinned at him. He smiled back.

"Noticed my hair, did you?"

The two shared another brief laugh.

"My name's Jack Simon, Business Major," the blond introduce, holding out his hand.

"I'm Mei Lao, Music Major," she replied, meeting his hand. The two shared a handshake, before making promises of future encounters as university students are wont to do, and going their separate ways.

_What a sad smile_, November thought, as the girl walked away.

* * *

Two streets away from Jack Simon, and Mei Lao's countenance changed. Her once lively blue eyes dulled slightly, and her smile, sad it was, disappeared. It was time for her to get busy.

Slowly but surely, her steps guided her to Tokyo's red-light district, and, once she had changed her clothes, entered the hostess club where she knew her informant would be.

Gone was innocent, sad Mei Lao. It was now time for former syndicate assassin, codename: Pai, to take action.

* * *

November cursed his luck, and ran towards the club. Hopefully, he would be able to catch the stupid doll once and for all.

Really, the police were such a nuisance, sticking their noses in where they weren't wanted.

But the place was secured, and full of police lines. November knew better than trying to get in.

He'd have to do this the hard way, then.

* * *

Kirihara, Misaki had been the first to react when evidence of a Contractor's star acting up came to her from Astronomics. She had jumped into her car and dashed to the scene. As always, however, she had been just a little late, and the place had already been heavily destroyed.

A hostess club, what could a Contractor possibly want from there?

Perhaps it had been more work of that shady syndicate several of those she had captured had talked about in fear.

Absently, she wondered which Contractor ability of the many she had seen had possibly caused this. There were many to whom it would've been quite easy. Therefore, she was quite surprised when it was confirmed that it had been, in fact, a simple electrical overcharge of the heating system. What had caused this overcharge remained, as of yet, unexplained, but it was really something that could happen to anyone.

Maybe the Contractor had used their powers to get out.

Misaki frowned. She was missing something, but she didn't know what.

* * *

Hurriedly, despite the fact that she knew she wasn't being followed, Pai closed the door as soon as she entered her apartment. Then she slumped, resting her back against the wooden surface, calming down her beating heart.

That hadn't gone exactly how she planned it, but she had achieved her goal. The packet that the syndicate had been after was now secure in her arms, and she would soon send it off to her employer, who she knew detested the syndicate as much as she did.

Content with her work and the minimal use of her ability (her informant had not been quite as cooperative as she had hoped, and things got messy), Pai stood up. Once she had hidden the parcel beneath several floorboards, she turned to the bathroom, eager for a long, relaxing soak.

* * *

November cursed at himself, at the police, at the stupid Contractor that he knew had somehow managed to outdo him. He had found what he presumed to be the body of an informant, among the ruins of the former heating system for the hostess club.

And he had then ran off as fast as he could, lest he be arrested by the police.

Huang would curse him for eternity, as the syndicate would probably punish them all equally. Strangely, he felt guilt at having been unable to complete a mission that would cost his companions as well as himself.

He sighed. Today had been a long day, and he hadn't really been able to get much sleep last night. At least he'd vented some of his anger on those three Contractors that had shown up to steal the doll of Shinoda Chiaki. That had felt good.

Although, considering he was a Contractor, he shouldn't feel anything at all.

Sighing once more, as he puffed out the smoke from the cigarette, November walked towards the apartment complex that signified his temporary home. The landlady would probably be worried about him ("that poor foreigner boy, anything could happen to him!") but he would simply reassure her.

As he slowly made his way up the stairs, he noticed the lights seeping through the bottom of the door at the farthest room in the upper floor. From what he knew, it was the smallest room, and nobody had inhabited.

Dimly, he recalled the landlady going on about some girl who had recently taken residence with them. For some reason, his thoughts went to the Chinese girl he'd met today, Mei Lao.

She had been pretty, a bit young perhaps. Her smiled, he noted, had been rather sad.

Before drifting off, November wondered what reason such a pretty girl could have for being sad…

Groggily, he decided to call her the girl with the sad smile. A fitting title, he reasoned, as sleep consumed him.

* * *

**Ending notes:**

Well, that's it for now. I'm not quite sure where I'm going with this, other than similar situations as those in the anime. Sadly, no fight scenes this time around.

Also, I realize I've screwed up the roles of several characters. No, I don't know how or if I'm gonna fix that. Possibly their personalities as well. Ah, well. This is really just an experiment, after all.

Feel free to point out any mistakes.

Also, enjoy your Holidays, and for those that celebrate, Merry Christmas :]


	2. A New Star in the Sky

**A/N:** For standard fanfic info refer to Chapter 1. This will not be repeated. Thank you.

Now, please enjoy, and do comment if you can! As usual, this is unbeta'd, so please to point out mistakes.

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**Neutral: The Grey Areas**

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Through the mist and dead bodies, a silhouette moved about. Its gender was hard to ascertain, as it wore a large bodysuit, as if fearing outside intoxication. The figures steps were slow and uneven, almost as if it were drunk.

"_Professor! Professor! Are you alright? What is going on? Professor, we are sending in a team to-"_the voice came from within the suit, obviously coming from some sort of electronic device and at times hard to understand through the static.

"No! No team...no human being should see this," the suited figure replied, proving to be male as the voice was quite low.

With great effort, he suddenly took of the headpiece. Dark skin and greying hair with pale, dull eyes along with weary wrinkles marred Professor Adam Houston's once young face. As he continued to move forward with long steps, almost as if dragging his feet, he fell.

Looking up, he suddenly yelped and scurried backwards until he hit a wall. A dead man stared at him, or at the very least he would have, had he still had eyes. Instead, gaping holes allowed a view into the man's skull, where various primitive lifeforms had taken abode. His arms were outstretched toward the professor, as if asking for penance, or begging for help.

Adam Houston sighed, forcing his nerves and beating heart to calm down as he took breaths of decidedly unhealthy air. As he gazed at the prostate man once more, something else caught his eyes. Blinking, his furrowed his brow and crawled towards it: a plant, with blue seeds falling from its leaves.

**--**

**CHAPTER 2: A New Star in the Sky**

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Pai woke the following morning to cloudy skies. Groaning lightly, she got up and began to prepare her breakfast, leaving the food momentarily to perform her morning rituals. Once ready, she hurriedly left the apartment taking her food with her.

"Good morning!" she waved to the landlady as the made her way down the stairs.

"Morning! Off to school, are you?" the woman smiled as the young girl nodded, before heading out.

The landlady was pleased to see her young charge so energic, especially considering the sad circumstances she found herself in. The woman did not, of course, notice the mysterious parcel the girl had concealed within her jacket.

A few minutes later, a certain blond foreigner also went down the steps, yawing as he did so.

"Good morning Mr. Simon," the landlady greeted amiably, addressing him in the Western manner. The young man only nodded in response, before he too, headed out.

_I wonder...Mr. Simon is not the most talkative of my tenants, but they are about the same age, and I'm sure she could use the company...hmm, yes..._

And thus the landlady began to sweep with renewed effort as the idea formed in her mind, ignorant of the black cat who watched her with amusement.

--

Pai hurried through the streets, intent on arriving at the meeting place. Her employer had promised her more work should she achieve the mission successfully, and that also meant they would continue to aid her in her personal quest. Besides, a large part of the tuition money for the university, as well as the fake alias, also came from them.

As she neared the location, she slowed down to a trot, eventually walking. There was no real need to hurry, and she did not want to draw the attention of curious eyes.

A few paces away from the phone booth, it began to ring. Suspecting who it was meant for, Pai quickly scanned her surroundings for any possible danger, while mentally cursing her employer. Really, it was too dangerous!

Having assured her safety, the brunette stepped into the booth and picked up the receiver.

"I'm here," she said.

"_Oh good, I was beginning to fear you wouldn't pick up! Silly me, I suppose,"_ the voice on the other end laughed. A device was used to make the voice sound decidedly electronic, so Pai knew she'd never be able to track them down.

"I've got the parcel,"

"_Ah, very well then, there's a small space in these booths were a telephone guide would usually be kept, can you see it?"_

"I'll leave it here, then,"

"_Good! Now then, here are your instructions for the next job,"_

As these were given, Pai listened silently, mentally filing every detail for later use. Once her employer was done, Pai placed the parcel in the allotted place, and informed the other of her intent to leave.

"_Right! Can't have you slouching off your rol__e as a student, can we?"_ with a final laugh, the voice cut off, and Pai practically hurled the receiver back in place in annoyance.

Sighing, the girl rubbed her temples in an attempt to calm down. She was not usually prone to exhibiting violent tendencies, on the contrary, she was a well-mannered, well-tempered girl who was liked by all. Her employer, however, somehow managed to bring out the worst in her. And she was a Contractor, for pity's sake! She should be able to keep a cool, collected head even in the most aggravating of circumstances.

With another sigh, she stepped out of the phone booth before heading around the nearest corner. As she had been told, a bicycle and what looked suspiciously like a pair of gardening scissors, was waiting for her.

Taking the bike and dumping the scissors (her employer's sense of humour vexed her greatly) she headed off towards the university.

--

In another part of the city, a man had just arrived to a luxurious hotel. He had rather long blond hair and blue eyes, obviously a foreigner. As he watched his baggage loaded into the suite, he held a bottle of alcohol on his right hand, ignoring the concerned gazes of the hotel staff. Standing a few paces behind him was another man, his coarse black hair was held back in a ponytail. Both were wearing expensive suits.

It was then that a third man approached them.

"We've found him, sir,"

The foreigner grinned savagely, as he brought a bottle to his lips.

--

"The professor's a bit of a loony, sure, but I don't really think anyone would've come back quite right in the head after seeing what he saw...he was the only survivor from that Gate expedition, y'know?" the worker shrugged, before moving on with his job.

November frowned slightly, as his gaze turned to the building where he knew the professor resided. He suddenly felt movement close to his feet, and peered downwards, finding a black cat curling around his legs. With a slight smirk, he bent, and began to scratch the other between the ears.

"What news do you bring, Mao?" he asked, barely a whisper.

"Huang's getting impatient...we're not really moving forward, November, I'm continuously kicked out of his house and you've yet to even see the man," the cat replied admits its purrs.

"He's got reason to be paranoid, I guess," the blond shrugged.

"Yes well, we need to break that fear of his soon," with that, the cat left him. November frowned once more, and turned his gaze on the professor's working quarters again. This could get complicated.

--

Pai's day had been uneventful so far, but at least she now had a method of transportation. That alone was enough to brighten an otherwise useless day: her research and questioning of her fellow peers had proved useless.

With a sigh, she steered her bicycle towards the market, intent on buying new ingredients for some of the dishes she wanted to attempt. As she rounded the corner, her mind already thinking of what to buy, she unceremoniously hit several people.

Admist the angry remarks, and various apologies, a hand was held out to her. Blinking, she took it, before arranging her bike and turning to her helper.

"Thank you so much!"

"Might want to be careful when you turn corners, no?" her helper smiled, teeth large and bright.

Pai smiled back, and invited the stranger to buy groceries with her. The two then strode together through the various stores, enjoying idle talk.

"You know, we've spent the whole day together, and still don't know our names!" the other laughed suddenly. Pai giggled.

"You're right! Well then, I'm Mei Lao," the brunette girl grinned, extending her hand.

"April Houston," the other replied, taking the offered hand. Mei Lao's smile grew, before the two burst into raucous laughter and were herded out of the establishment by a grumping storeowner.

_What luck I have..._

--

The phone rang out in the quiet office, and November wondered if the other man would answer it. He had made some progress, finally, and become the professor's assistant, but the man was still tight-lipped.

As the phone continued to ring, November assumed it was not to be answered. Suddenly, however, the professor stood up and grabbed it.

"I said no! No, I don't care how much you pay me, I am not interested and I will not share my research with you!" the receiver went down with an audible 'bang!' and a startled November could not help but stare at the man that had originally seemed so lifeless.

His dark skin prevented colour from affecting his face, but the ragged breath and murderous look in his eyes were enough proof that the man was barely containing his anger. November's eyes narrowed. He had no idea who had been on the other side, but if the professor's attitude was any indication, it was someone after the same thing he was.

And he suspected they wouldn't take to this refusal lightly.

--

"He hanged up on me,"

"Again? Well, I'm sorry to poor Adam, but he's brought it upon himself..." the foreigner sighed as if in great grievance, before taking a wisp of his cigarette.

"What now?" the man with the coarse black hair asked. The foreigner turned to him, grinning maliciously.

"The daughter," his grin was mirrored by all those present.

--

"April, I couldn't possibly-"

"Nonsense Mei! You don't mind if I call you Mei, do you? It's something everyone must try at some point, and I won't recognize a friend of mine who cannot hold their alcohol!"

The two women had somehow made it to the low end of town, and, at April's insistence, into the nearest establishment which sold alcoholic beverages. The dark skinned woman was now insisting on having her friend try every single drink the house had to offer, much to the delight of the bartender.

Mei's smile was admittedly strained as she conceded to one drink, which quickly became four and then six. However, Pai was no idiot, and she had taken care to drink less than it actually seemed. She needed the other to start talking, and alcohol loosened the tongue like nothing else.

"You're a good friend, Mei, even if I've only known you for, what? Four or five hours? Has it been that long already?" clearly, the alcohol was beginning to have an effect.

"I think we should be going now April, your family-"

"Family? What family? That old geezer could care less about me...all he cares about is his stupid research, and that's why mom left him in the first place, no, I've got no family..." April took another swig from the now nearly empty cup, not noticing how her friend's eyes narrowed lightly, before she sighed sympathetically.

"At least you've got parents, I've never-"

"He's not a parent, Mei, he's never been...or, well, I suppose that's cruel of me, he was a parent, once, he even," turning to the other girl, the bluenette smiled.

"Even what?" Mei prodded.

"Look here, I trust you, so I'll show you," slowly, she untied the bandages around her wrist, and held it up to the other to examine.

At first, Mei saw nothing, but upon closer inspection she saw it; that small, bright glow. Frowning, she turned to her companion quizzically.

"According to the old man, it's supposed to be a charm that protects me...used to be brighter when I was younger, but y'know," shrugging, she chugged the bottle down, before giggling madly.

Mei giggled along, before slowly dragging the other woman out of the establishment, intent on getting her safely home. She had obtained the information she needed to proceed, and was beginning to hate the professor.

She was his daughter, not some lab subject.

--

"Got her," the man told the phone, as he saw the two women walking down the streets, following silently in his car.

"_Bring her,"_ was the command from the other side.

"Yes sir," the man grinned, fondly gazing at the gun on the seat beside him.

--

As the two walked through the deserted streets with the fake starry sky above, giggles escaping every so often and Mei's bike with them, the Contractor did not fail to notice the car trailing him behind them. She also noticed the various figures in the darker alleys as they walked by. Assessing the situation, she admitted to their being surrounded.

"April," she hissed, and was pleased to see the other's gaze rest upon her quietly, if slightly dazed, probably due to the amount of alcohol she had consumed.

"When I tell you to, run as fast as you can,"

"What? Mei, what're you-"

"Here, take the bike," and, thrusting the bike to the other's hands, began to move at a faster pace.

The men following them noticed, and also accelerated their pace, intent on capturing them once and for all. As they neared a crossroads of sorts, Mei suddenly pushed her companion towards the right,

"Go!"

As the shots were fired, April did not need to be told twice, pedalling at full speed. She was concerned for her newfound friend, but figured that if the girl had been able to tell they were being trailed, then she knew what she was doing. The pursuers were after her now, too, and she had no time to spare thinking about the fate of her friend. She had her own hide to save too.

--

Pai was not happy.

She didn't know who was after April, but she could guess why they were after her. And she had grown to like the girl in the few hours they had spent together, even if she did have an unhealthy addiction to alcoholic substances (she had seen the few beer cans the other kept in her bag), but she figured that could be caused by the same man who was now the cause of their attack.

Her father, Professor Adam Houston, had been involved in research concerning Contractors and the Gate until his retirement after the Gate expedition. From then on, he had resided in Tokyo. He was still considered a scholarly expert in the field, but he was also what many considered so be a certified lunatic, the expedition being suspected of harming him mentally more than physically.

Pai held no liking for this man, his research was her current job, but that did not mean she had to like him. In fact, she currently held the utmost loathing for him, if what she suspected he had done to his daughter was right.

The would-be attackers had now formed a circle around her, sneering at what they thought was a defenceless victim.

_How wrong they are._

Silently, Pai donned her gray coat and white mask, as the star labelled BK-201 shone brightly on the Astronomics readings.

--

April pedalled faster, finally reaching the park and hiding the bike in the bushes before continuing on foot. She didn't know what was going on, but she knew those bullets were real, and her life was in danger.

As she continued running, she suddenly turned a corner and bumped into someone.

"Sorry," she breathed out.

"Don't be, darling," she stiffened, when she noticed the man holding her was one of her pursuers. The others were closing in. April began to struggle.

"Now, now, don't complicate things..." another of the men held a gun threateningly.

"Let me go!"

"Afraid we can't do that, love,"

Frightened, the dark skinned girl continued to struggle, as the man holding her cursed.

"Here, I'll just hit her head to knock her out for a bit," when she heard this, her efforts increased tenfold.

"Let me go!" such was the commotion, that none of them noticed the sudden cloud forming above them, until the pitter-patter of rain began to hit them.

"I hate rain," one of the men commented as a car approached them. April cries were now muffled, but she continued to struggle. It was then that the rain began to fall more harshly, and April's massacre occurred.

The men began to cry out; attempting to dive for shelter for the unexplained injuries the rain was creating, as if a million knives were cutting through their skin simultaneously.

As she watched the men around her die, April slumped down, her eyes blank and frightened. What was going on?

--

Misaki liked being informed, especially if it was in an organized fashion.

Misaki disliked being suddenly woken up at odd hours of the night due to the Astronomics readings on new stars springing up, or old ones (such as her nemesis BK-201) acting up.

She disliked having to deal with Moratoriums even more. They were messy, irrational creatures which deserved the utmost pity.

That did not stop Misaki from avidly cursing the one that was currently creating chaos in her city.

--

The professor was panicking. He had grabbed the remnants of the plant that had died before their eyes, and had then ordered November to drive the car for them.

What, exactly, they were looking for, November was not sure, but he was beginning to have a feeling that the syndicate was not the only group interested in the professor's research, and that someone else may have used a slightly underhanded method to get it.

--

Pai cursed her luck, as the blood flowed freely from her only injury, on her arm, while she attempted to bandage it. It had been a grave mistake on her part to assume the man was dead. As the sun broke through the fake starry sky from over the gate, she continued her search of her missing companion.

If the reports of various automobilistic accidents were correct, April had managed to discover her power.

--

Well, this was certainly not what November had expected when he was dragged out to the car at the early hours of the morning. The foreigner, whom he assumed to be in charge, was standing in front of a dark skinned young woman.

He assumed she was important to the professor, probably his daughter, for the man's countenance had displayed obvious emotion upon seeing her.

She, however, was perfectly emotionless, save for the silly smile on her face.

_Moratorium_, November thought with distaste. They were not exactly his favourite people, useless and irrational as they were. No wonder Misaki had cancelled today's date in a rapidly written text; the girl probably had all of the Foreign Affaris Section 4 staff and the Astronomics department in chaos.

"April! April, listen to me-"

"Now, now professor, we're holding our end of the bargain, and now you must hold yours," the foreigner smiled, patronizing, "I am quite glad to see your research has been successful, although, I never expected you'd use your own daughter as a test subject,"

"What?" November asked suddenly, the wheels turning in his head to comprehend the man's words.

"I see your acquaintance knows nothing," the foreigner sneered.

"Give me April first and then-"the professor attempted.

"I am afraid not, professor, first the research, then the girl,"

"Fine," the professor gritted his teeth, and stepped forward. Grabbing his daughter from the floor forcefully, ignoring both her cries of pain and the armed men surrounding them, he threw the remains of the plant to the floor.

"There's my research, and that's all there ever will be," with that, still grabbing his daughter, he turned.

"Now, just a minute professor, what do you mean?" the foreigner frowned, as his men grabbed the scraps of the plant. They were all wearily eyeing the cloud that was beginning to form over father and daughter, for the man continued to grab her tightly despite her struggles.

"April here, she...she was never meant to be a Moratorium, intitally, she was a Contractor, but you know what society thinks of them, so I strove to change that," the man sighed, gazing at the girl still struggling in his arms, he merely held on tightly.

"During the expedition to the Gate, I came across a plant with seeds that, I believed, would stop the process to become a Contractor, so I used them on my daughter...sadly, I was mistaken, and instead made her into the Moratorium you now see," the girl had now become significantly calmer in his arms, even slightly returning the hug, although the cloud did not dissipate in the least.

November, and the rest of those assembled, blinked at the man's concession. Suddenly, an injury and a decent amount of blood sprung from his back. Upon closer inspection, November noticed a clear knife, the weapon of a Contractor, protruding from the wound. With a brief grunt, the professor collapsed before his daughter's eyes. The girl gazed at him briefly, before turning to face the place from which the attack had come.

The man with then coarse black hair stood on the railing, grabbing a knife and stepping back prudently as her gaze fell on him. Meticulous and silent as he had been, he failed to noticed the arrival of a third party.

This cost him his life, as a rope was twirled expertly around his neck, and he had a brief moment to stare at a masked face before he was electrocuted. He then fell off the railing, dead. November started, recognizing both the weapon and the mask, but she was gone as fast as she had come, and so he decided against pursuing her. Instead, his eyes locked on the professor's daughter as he rushed to the man's side.

Having seen the other Contractor's demise, April then turned to the rest of her attackers: the foreigner and his entourage. Slightly put out, the men began to slowly step back, as the dark skinned woman stepped forward.

November was not surprised when, upon reaching the professor, Mao appeared as well, and both checked for the man's pulse. Seeing the girl nearing the others, November briefly considered stopping her, but decided against it. For all he knew, she'd turn against him as well, according to how reason dictated her thought.

"Now, look here girl, we weren't the ones who-"

The man's voice was cut off, as he and the rest of his companions were showered upon by a rain which promised certain death. November stood up as the girl turned once more, approaching them.

"No," was all he said, but the dark skinned young woman understood.

She opened her bag, took out a can of beer, and then proceeded to drink its contents, emptying the thing in seconds. Then, she wiped her lips with her sleeves, curiously looking at the sight before her: a dead man, a live one and a cat.

"Your price?" November raised his eyebrow, and she nodded cheerfully.

"A Moratorium who became a Contractor...I'm pretty sure that's not even supposed to happen," Mao commented, gazing at the female before him.

"What now?" she asked.

It was Huang who answered,

"You'll go the syndicate, they deal with you and teach you and..."

Nodding, she cut his speech short as she followed the man out of the warehouse and into the morning sun. She paused slightly at the door, gazing back, before once more resolutely stepping forward.

"Well, we better go Mao, before Misaki appears,"

"Heh, I'd like to see you explain this one to your lady friend,"

--

Pai watched the group leave from the top of the warehouse, the sun shining behind her. Speechless, she turned her back on the group, mourning the loss of a possible ally and friend, before heading over to the park, where she was sure her bicycle would be.

It was not without some amusement that she noted the phone booth from the previous day had now disappeared.

* * *

End of chapter 2. Hope you enjoyed and feel free to review!


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